After receiving input from the public and stakeholder groups over the past 18 months, the agency and the Interstate 84 Corridor Strategy Team have chosen a modified contemporary design as the one most suitable for the Sandy River bridges to be replaced near Troutdale. Read more about how ODOT’s I-84 Corridor Strategy melds public feedback with National Scenic Area regulations to create aesthetically pleasing bridges for the Columbia River Gorge.

Traffic tool offers hard data, handy facts (December)

Work Zone Traffic Analysis

You don’t have to be a traffic engineer to benefit from ODOT’s Work Zone Traffic Analysis tool. Read more about the Web-based program that helps traffic engineers calculate when to schedule lane closures and allows permitting specialists to plan utility work.

ODFW applauds bridges as bat and salmon habitat (November)

Townsendâs big-eared bat will roost under bridges

Bats and salmon aren’t the only ones happy about ODOT’s work on the McKenzie River bridges. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is very pleased with the bridges on their behalf. Read more about how ODOT and its contractors are going above and beyond in their efforts to be good stewards of the natural environment as we rebuild the highway infrastructure.

Elk Creek bridge replacement draws national attention (November)

Workers prepare for second rapid replacement bridge roll

The Mill Creek Bridge near Madras, the new Sauvie Island Bridge near Portland, and the Elk Creek Tunnel bridges near Elkton have something in common: ODOT replaced them all using the innovative rapid replacement technique that cuts delays due to lane closures and avoids detour routes, keeping motorists mobile. Read more about why transportation professionals recently came from around the country to learn about ODOT’s cutting-edge bridge-building technique.

State agencies find ideal solution (October)

Take big trucks facing tight turning radiuses, park enthusiasts trying to link Rogue River and Gold Hill via a greenway, and bridge program engineers charged with repairing two I-5 bridges above it all, and you could end up with a multi-agency Rubik’s cube. Click here to find out how ODOT’s Region 3 and the Bike and Pedestrian Program staff worked with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department to solve the puzzle.

National Scenic Area bridge permitted in record time (October)

The Cascadian design blends with the environment.

After only a four-month review period, ODOT’s OTIA III bridge program has received its first permit to replace a bridge in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Click here to read more about how ODOT shaved six to 12 months off the usual review time by means of its innovative Interstate 84 Corridor Strategy and the work of a dedicated interagency team.

Upping the ante on environmental stewardship (September)

Recycling rebar is good stewardship.

At ODOT we continually look to set the bar higher, for ourselves and our contractors. On the OTIA III bridge program, the environmental team is using a combination of simplified, proactive standards and reporting to encourage contractors to help the agency manage construction waste debris to its “highest and best end use.” Read more about ODOT’s increasingly green construction practices.

The views from the bridge (September)

Bridge tour participants compared design options.

On July 26, at the Bridge View Design Kickoff of the Willamette River Bridge project, Eugene-area residents were able to help shape the future of the single largest project of the OTIA III State Bridge Delivery Program. More than 200 people attended the event and took part in a number of activities, including a self-guided site tour. Click here to read more on the agency’s efforts to include the public on this important project.

Steel takes center stage (August)

148-ft. long steel beams will support the Hilgard bridge

Steel usually plays a supporting role in bridge construction: Under the familiar surface of concrete lies a critical network of strengthening rebar. But structural steel has a starring role in the OTIA III bridge program, too: about 10 percent of the bridges being replaced will be made of steel. Read more about how building with steel helps Oregon’s economy by spreading bridge program work to yet another group of companies and workers.

Ingenuity on London Road Bridge bring project in on time (August)

Garcia and his company helped meet a tight deadline

In construction, timing is everything. When one step in the process doesn’t proceed as planned, a can-do attitude has to take the lead. Read more about how ODOT’s partnership with contractor Capital Concrete Construction allowed the project team to meet its commitment to Cottage Grove, performing seven months of work in five so the London Road Bridge could be reopened by the summer travel season.

ODOT keeps Prineville up-to-date with new bridge. (July)

Prineville when the Ochoco Creek Bridge was built.

When the Ochoco Creek Bridge on U.S. 26 in Prineville was built in 1920, women had only just won the right to vote, and the pickup truck had not yet been invented. Today, some of the 12,000 drivers that use this bridge every day still haul hay, livestock and timber west, but some are coming east looking for new hotspots for possible destination resorts. Read more about how the new Ochoco Creek Bridge that ODOT is building will be yet another element in ensuring the vitality of Central Oregon’s economic base.

Four thousand tons of concrete salvaged from detour bridge (July)

A beam is cleaned before being transported.

ODOT recently added a new “R”—restock—to the traditional three “Rs” of reduce, reuse and recycle. It salvaged 64 precast, prestressed concrete box beams from the McKenzie River detour bridge near Eugene and stockpiled them for future reuse. Read more about how the agency spared landfills more than 4,000 tons of concrete debris and potentially saved $1 million in expenses on future contracts.